Call Number:

2053

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives

Extent:

0.1 linear foot

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Item name]. Box [Box number]. Margaret M. Clark post card collection. Penn Museum Archives.

Date:

1912-1913 (inclusive)

Creator:

Clark, Margaret M., 1886-1968

Form:

Photographs and Travel photography

Abstract:

Margaret M. Clark (1886-1968) was an English Quaker who accompanied an older English Friend, Gulielma Crosfield (Mrs. Albert J. Crosfield), to visit Quaker missions connected with the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association in India and Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), 1912-1913. Clark bought a number of postcards as souvenirs of her travels, including a small set of Madagascar, obtained through Mrs. Crosfield. The collection was donated to the Penn Museum by Clark's daughter, Mrs. Rachel Wilson, in 2005.

Margaret M. Clark (1886-1968) was the mother of Mrs. Rachel Wilson, the donor of this collection of postcards. Clark was an English Quaker, living at the time of the trip in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England. She accompanied an older English Friend, Gulielma Crosfield (Mrs. Albert J. Crosfield), who felt a concern to visit Quaker missions connected with the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association in India and Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka). They arrived in Bombay on November 15, 1912, and sailed from Bombay on Tuesday, February 11, 1913. Clark and Crosfield were primarily in the Central Provinces of India (Agra and Delhi) and Sri Lanka. Besides visiting the missions, they were taken sightseeing. Clark bought a number of postcards as souvenirs of her adventure.

In 1922, Clark married Joseph H. Haines (becoming Margaret M. Haines) and moved to Philadelphia, bringing with her many reminders of her life in England, including the collection of postcards.

The collection consists of post cards collected by Margaret M. Clark during her missionary trip to India and Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) from 1912-1913. It includes 8 additional post cards from Madagascar given to Clark by her friend Gulielma Crosfield, who also went on the missionary trip. All of the post cards are printed and in size approximately 3’’ by 5’’, mostly in black and white and a few in color. All but three of the post cards are unwritten. Among those three, one is post marked and is written to Clark by Pria from the Missionary Settlement in Bombay; one is post marked and is written by a woman named “Lilla” to Miss R. Impey; one is not post marked and is written by Edith Antcliffe.

The collection is organized by geographic locations and subject matter. The post cards collected in India consist of views of 3 major cities - Agra, Benares, and Delhi, as well as portraits and occupations. Some noted subject matters are several views of the Taj Mahal, various Ghat activities in the Ganges River, and street views. The post cards collected in Sri Lanka consist of landscape and portraits of indigenous people in traditional clothing as well as of different occupations. The post cards from Madagascar consist of portraits of indigenous people and scenes of religious practices.